


The Defiant

by DarthChocolate



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28773348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthChocolate/pseuds/DarthChocolate
Summary: Daena Targaryen's battles against her brother and her fight to provide for her son. She defy the odds and won.
Kudos: 5





	The Defiant

People called her, “Daena the Defiant.” If they knew the truth, they would have called her, “the Clever” or perhaps, “the Strong.” Would they have believed it? Unlikely. The fools swallowed King Baelor claim that the Maidenvault was meant to protect the princesses’ virtue. The truth was Baelor intended to break Daena of her wicked free-spirited ways. Instead she decided to break him.

King Baelor stood before her with three kingsguards and his demand. “Confess your sins so you may be forgiven.”

“Certainly, there are so many. I shall start at the beginning. My first sin was being born a woman.”

“Stop jesting!” Baelor stomped his foot. “This is a serious matter. You have defiled yourself.”

“So has the Master of Coins, Prince Aegon and the Commander of the City Watch. Why aren’t they trapped in here with us?”

“I’m only concerned with protecting your virtue, dear sister.”

“If you had done your husbandly duty, you would have known. I don’t belong here. I’m no shy maiden.”

“I know that you have escaped the Maidenvault.” The anger was boiling behind his eyes. “Who did you sleep with? Who is the father of your unborn child?”

“He said that he was the Warrior, but his hands felt like the Smith. Though, you know how much I adored father. Perhaps you think it might be,” she winked.

Two of the three kingsguards struggled to contain their amusement. The noble Aemon the Dragonknight gave her a disapproving look. Baelor threatened, “I’ll send you to the motherhouse.”

“Go ahead,” Daena was undeterred. “I’ll escape there as well. Unlike the Princess Saera, I won’t head to Essos. I’ll stay here and roam about the countryside. How will your subjects react to the news that you cast out a child conceived by a god?”

“What?!” Baelor’s jaw dropped.

“Oh yes, I think it’s a better story than you and those snakes. They won’t be calling you Baleor the Blessed after that.”

“There is no proof.”

“Not much is needed. Remember your High Septons. Just a good explanation. The king turned aside his good wife. The gods grew displeased.”

“The marriage was never consummated.”

“But vows were made before the gods. They patiently waited for the king to return to his wife. After many years, they blest innocent me with a child. It makes sense since all women are meant to have children. Without the father, there is no way to contradict it.” She enjoyed seeing her brother squirm. “How does it feel being the one stuck in the tower, Baelor?”

The king retaliated by sending three septas to hound the man’s name from her. They pestered her for months with no success until the Grand Maester dismissed them for the sake of the baby. Each month, Baelor would visit her and demand the father’s name. As Daena neared the final month of her pregnancy, he fell to his knee before her. “Confess his name, please. For the honor of our house.”

Young Barba Bracken had been brushing Daena’s hair as Daena looked down at her brother. “Alright, I shall tell you who he was. On my honor, Cannibal the dragon spired a child upon me. All girls do fancy black scales, fangs and those big green eyes. I couldn’t resist his charms.”

“You shouldn’t be treating the king so poorly,” Rhaena scolded. Her other sister Elaena kept her nose in a book. Daena didn’t fault her for not getting involved.

Fighting is difficult. Daena never backed down. “I treat our brother rather justly. It will soon be ten years that I’ve been confined to the tower. I survived it. Am I to be blamed for this weak boy not handing a mere eight months? Off with you,” Daena shooed him away. “Go pray or something.” He left.

“The king groveled before you.” Barba was astonished.

“All men can be crushed or deceived even kings. Anyone can win as long as you know how to play the game.” Her late father taught her that. He told her about his time living under cruel regents and the secret siege in Maegor’s Holdfast. Did he tell her all of this to prepare her? She didn’t know. Though she wished that she could have thanked him.

Her father wouldn’t have wanted a son named after him. Daena had no clue what to name her newborn son. She overheard a midwife sneer under her breath, “the defiant.” Her grandfather had to bear the title “Rogue Prince” by his enemies. He was a strong warrior. The name Daemon seemed to fit her son and his situation. If her father was alive, she thought he would have agreed with her choice.

A month later, her cousin Aegon came to visit her and her baby in secret. The kingsguard Ser Jaremy Pyne let him in. Aegon was exhilarated to inform her about the latest news. “Baelor is still fasting. He refuses to end his fasting. My father and the small council fear for his life.” Aegon didn’t include himself in the list of worriers. He felt stifled under Baelor’s rule. He admired little Daemon. “He’s a strong healthy baby. He’s mine. Isn’t he?”

“He obviously looks like you,” which was reasonable since Daena shared similar features with Aegon.

“Don’t worry,” Aegon kissed the baby’s forehead. “I won’t speak of it.”

She and Ser Jaremy watched as Aegon exited through the shadowy passageway. She could feel the kingsguard indignation. “You slept with him?!”

“Do you think he got rid of the vile septa out of the kindest of his heart?” Most septas responsible for overseeing her confinement had been dull and boring. One septa got it into her mind to beat the defiance out of Daena. She fought off the old woman. Elaena told her the septa was getting reinforcements and had Baelor’s permission. “I did what I had to survive.”

His voice softened, “I’m sorry.”

They listened to Rhaena’s nightly hymns. Ser Jaremy began to go to the other room. She grabbed his arm, “for our son to survive, we must let Aegon assume the boy is his. If not, Daemon will be sent away to be a neglect ward of some petty lord. Aegon is next in line to be king.”

“What of yourself or Prince Viserys?”

“My grandmother had supporters and even she couldn’t keep the crown. I have no hope. As for my old uncle, it’s doubtful that he’ll be on the Iron Throne for long. We need Aegon’s good opinion for me and my son to stay in the Red Keep.”

“It’s a dangerous game that you’re playing.”

“I always did fancy those kinds of games.”

A little while later, Baelor stupidly got himself killed by fasting too long. Daena paraded out of the Maidenvault victorious. Her uncle hosted her and her sisters’ first meal as free women. She thought he would be more cheerful now that he was king. King Viserys had remained ever gloomy. He perked up a little as he talked finances with Elaena. “You’re highly intelligent girl. How were you able to learn so much? I thought Baelor had limited the books in the Maidenvault.”

Elaena blushed. She didn’t want to admit that some septas had smuggled in some books for her. Daena didn’t mind confessing her part in it. “He did. When I escaped from vault, I would return with a book for her.”

“But you only escaped from the Maidenvault three times.” The king inquired, “how did you sneak in a dozen books?”

Daena laughed, “more like I escaped three times each year. It’s glorious to be finally free of those shackles. Tomorrow, I’m going for a long ride. Who cares to join me?”

“It’s not prudent, Daena. You’re a mother now. You have that boy to take care of.” Naerys looked like the fragile sweet lady. Daena believed on her deathbed that pompous woman would still be judging everyone.

Daena stabbed her meat with a fork. “Great grandmother had her sons ride on her dragon with her. Perhaps, I’ll take Daemon with me riding.”

“That’s utter foolishness.” Naerys rolled her eyes. “In any regards, you forget. Baelor’s funeral is tomorrow.”

“I didn’t forget,” Daena fired back. “That lackwit stole almost ten years of my life. I’m not giving him another day more.”

“I’ll come riding with you,” Aegon offered. King Viserys glared at his son. Aegon promptly rescinded his offer.

Daena wouldn’t be intimidated. She went horseback riding instead of attending the funeral. Some people might have felt that it was bad form. She didn’t care. Aemon became annoyed with her after she invited Aegon to go riding with her and Barba. He stood watch as she played with her son. He didn’t stand quietly. “Do you not know Aegon fancies Barba and she is scheming to be his mistress?”

“Yes, I know. I’m not stupid though you and your sister view me as such.”

“Then you simply don’t care about Naerys’ honor.”

“What is this his fourth mistress now? If I was allowed to wield a sword, I might care. At last, I’m not. I’m stuck playing political games because not all of us can abdicate behind a white cloak.”

“How could you be so cruel?”

“Your dead tongues make it so easy. You and your sweet sister were the only ones to not speak in my defense against being imprisoned in the Maidenvault.” She flinched her hand to him. “You’re dismissed, kingsguard. I’m as safe without you as am I with you.”

Her distain for Naerys and Aemon couldn’t last. Unlike Naerys, Daena couldn’t afford to lose alliances. If the Rogue Prince could stomach his brother’s presence for the sake of his daughters, she could for the sake of her son. Daemon was a bastard. He needed powerful allies to keep him in the Red Keep. Naerys wasn't inclined to forgive Daena. However, Daena had been polite and kind to her daughter-in-law Myriah Martell, so Naerys decided to be courteous. It was easy to like Myriah. The Dornish girl had been a fiery outcast like her.

Peaceful relations were also helped when Daena finally visited Baelor’s ashes in the partially constructed sept made in his honor. She touched the wall of the sept briefly and spoke to herself. “Despite your many flaws, you were still my brother. May your ash rest in peace amidst the cow dung.”

**Author's Note:**

> For more information, please go to https://aurora-light-blog.tumblr.com/


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